


warmth & light

by mikkey_bones



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Candlenights, Gen, Surprise Party, especially me, everyone loves Ren
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-19 12:30:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13123761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikkey_bones/pseuds/mikkey_bones
Summary: Ren spends the Candlenights holiday working in her Deputy Headmistress office at Taako's Amazing School of Magic. Ren spends the Candlenights holiday being loved (even if she doesn't realize it at first).





	warmth & light

**Author's Note:**

> My first TAZ fic, and a Secret Santa gift for [stabbythespaceroomba](https://stabbythespaceroomba.tumblr.com/) on tumblr! Prompt was "found families", and I really wanted to write about Ren.

It starts when they’re planning the annual closure of Taako’s Amazing School of Magic for Candlenights. The school shuts down for a whole month during the holiday season, to give students a chance to return to their families for a while and celebrate in whatever way they see fit. For those who don’t want to leave the grounds, the dormitories and the library stay open, and there’s always a few staff members or teachers who stick around and plan activities and entertainment for the remaining students. Usually, Ren manages the closure. But today, Taako’s in town and in the mood where he wants to run his school, and Ren is more than happy for the company and the help.

Taako flips through his agenda. He’s in Ren’s office, sprawled in her comfiest leather armchair, as he marks down which staff members will be on leave and which ones will stay. Ren is doing the same, making sure their planners match up.

“Annnnd Minerva is leaving. Natch,” Taako says, straightening. “That’s everyone, I think.” He looks at his planner again, and then back up to Ren. “Except you, looks like. When are you leaving for Candlenights?”

They have enough staff staying around that Ren isn’t technically needed; that’s how it usually works out. So it makes sense to assume that Ren is heading out. Except that she usually doesn’t, regardless of whether she’s required to stay or not. But Taako’s not usually here to discuss Candlenights plans.

“Oh,” Ren says and feels a little embarrassed. “I’m, ah, I’m not planning to go anywhere this year.”

Taako raises his eyebrows at her in surprise.

“It’s just,” Ren begins, and she realizes that she’s making excuses to justify staying at work when she could be on vacation, and that’s… kind of pathetic. “Refuge is so far away, you know, and we’re just so busy this year.” They’re busy every year, but it’s true that this year is even more hectic. Five years after its creation, the TaakoTM Brand is expanding and so is the Amazing School of Magic—they’re adding another dormitory building, hiring more teachers, and revamping their anti-necromancy campaign. “I figured I could stay over break and get a head start on things.”

Taako is frowning at her with that look he gets when he reads over the financial aid requests, or when he hears about one of his students getting bullied (beyond the normal duel-related hazing that is part and parcel of the Taako’s Amazing School of Magic general curriculum). “You stayed last year too, didn’t you?”

“I-I did,” Ren says, surprised that Taako remembers.

“And the year before?”

“Well…”

Taako watches her. Ren squirms a little, uncomfortable under his regard. And then Taako relaxes and smiles widely. This is the look that he gets when he awards someone a full-ride scholarship or finds the perfect outfit for one of his speeches in front of the student assembly. It makes Ren even more nervous. “ _Excellent_. Then you’re staying for Candlenights!” He writes it in his agenda with a flourish.

Ren wonders—not for the first time—what she’s signed up for. “Yes, I am,” she agrees.

“And now—” Taako begins, holding up a finger like he’s thought of something brilliant. But Ren never gets to hear what he was going to say, because at that moment she gets a call on her office stone of farspeech saying Léonie from Grade 9 is in the infirmary with a broken arm and could Ren please come down to do damage control.

Taako watches her, a thoughtful expression on his face, as she leaves.

*

Finals week is utterly hectic. It always is, and Taako, who tends to stick around for this part of the semester, loves every second of it. Ren… Well, in all fairness, Ren loves it too. But she’s also running around from dawn until dusk mediating duels, consoling sobbing and stressed out students, and making sure that exams go off without a hitch. Relatively speaking, anyway.

Things calm down after that. Students get their exam results, and the ones who fail get sent for individual meetings with their teachers, their counselors, and, often, Ren. A few days into Candlenights vacation, the campus is more or less empty. Only twenty-five or so people remain in the dorms.

The winter session programs start. In addition to skiing and cooking classes, Taako sets up an “independent directed arts and crafts course” into which he enlists all of the students and most of the teachers. Once that’s in gear, he drifts away on a short book tour. 

Ren gets plenty of work done. The first thing she does, like every year, is go through the school’s accounts, checking over their budget and making sure they’ve got enough money to keep operating next year. She spends extra time on all their financial aid accounts, because both she and Taako believe that no one should have to pay more than they can to get an education.

It came as a surprise to Ren at first, but she likes this part of her job. She’s got a head for numbers, as Cassidy would say. She likes seeing how things fit together. More than that, she knows this is good work, important work, and nothing is more satisfying than a job well done.

*

Five days into Candlenights vacation, someone knocks quietly on her open door in the middle of the day. Usually the students are out doing their group activities at this time, so Ren looks up in surprise… and does a double take. Standing there is Kravitz, looking tall, perfectly dressed, and even more awkward than usual. “Hello, Ren,” he says in his normal voice, not his work accent. “May I come in?”

“Of course!” Ren says, already clearing papers off her desk to make room for a tea kettle and cups, and pulling out the smoky flavored green tea that she knows Kravitz likes best. It’s got roasted brown rice in it, and Ren’s only met a few people who like it as much as she does. Kravitz is one of them. 

Kravitz smiles and steps inside, taking a seat in the comfy armchair that Taako also uses whenever he’s in Ren’s office. He pulls it up to her desk. “I had a job near here so I thought I’d drop by to say hello.”

“That’s awfully kind of you,” Ren says, boiling water in the kettle with a cantrip and then pouring it into their cups. “But Taako isn’t here today. He’s in Neverwinter, with his book tour.”

“I know that,” Kravitz says. “I’m his husband.” Kravitz never misses a chance to remind people that he and Taako are actually honest-to-god married, like he’s surprised about it too, and Ren thinks that’s just so sweet. “But you’re here.”

“I am,” Ren agrees, keeping her attention on the teabags in their cups because she feels a blush climbing up the back of her neck. She’d never really expected Kravitz to want to come to the Amazing School of Magic just to visit _her_. It’s flattering. A little daunting, that the avatar of the Raven Queen Herself thinks that she’s someone worth spending time with. She hands him his cup and sits down again. “So, what are y’all planning for Candlenights?” Taako and Kravitz always go to amazing places on vacation, like Neverwinter or the Dolphin Coast or the Astral Plane, to spend time with other reapers or gods or the saviors of the universe.

“Nothing big, actually,” Kravitz says, which is surprising. Ren was looking forward to whatever stories Taako would come back with. “Taako says he wants to stay around here. I think people will be visiting us, this year. So it should be eventful nonetheless.”

Ren laughs. “So you’ll be staying busy anyway,” she jokes.

Kravitz smiles in that shy way of his as he picks up the cup, wrapping his whole hand around it like it isn’t even hot. “Guess so. And you, Ren? Taako tells me that you’re staying to work.”

Taako talked to Kravitz about her? Was it that strange to him, that she’d stick around over break? Ren flushes again. “Well, I usually stick around,” she admits. “I just worry about the students who stay over Candlenights. And it’s good to know that everything is running smoothly.”

Kravitz gives her an evaluating look. Ren isn’t sure how to react, but she keeps her head up meets his eyes. And then Kravitz smiles again. “That makes sense. You really care about the students, don’t you?”

“Of course I do,” Ren says like it’s obvious. “We all do.”

Kravitz’s smile gets a little wider. “Well, I’m sure they care about you, too, Ren. In fact, Taako was telling me just the other day that they’re—”

He stops. “That they’re what?” Ren asks, raising her eyebrows and trying to ignore the fact that she’s still blushing.

“That,” Kravitz begins with a rather panicked look on his face, like he’s said something he wasn’t supposed to. “That… the students all really like you.”

It’s sweet, but it’s definitely not what Kravitz meant to say at first. Ren narrows her eyes a little, tempted to push for an answer. But for all that he’s the literal Grim Reaper, terror of both living and dead… Kravitz is a bit of a dork. He’d just get flustered and awkward and then probably leave. Ren lets him think he’s pulled the wool over her eyes. “Aw, that’s nice of him.”

Kravitz looks like he knows he’s on thin ice. “That’s Taako for you. My husband.”

Ren laughs at him and changes the subject. “Ooh, I forgot. I’ve got this, to go with the tea.” She opens her desk drawer and pulls out a nondescript metal tin. Inside the tin is her chocolate stash. She pulls out a dark chocolate bar wrapped in dark red foil, one of those fancy, luxury chocolates that you can only really find in high-class Neverwinter boutiques. It was a Candlenights gift from a student’s family.

Kravitz’s eyes widen, impressed. “You’re spoiling me.”

“I’m spoiling myself,” Ren says and laughs, pleased and proud. She unwraps the chocolate bar and hands Kravitz half. “Happy Candlenights.”

Kravitz gets solemn for a second, his eyes going dark and just a little bit strange. “ _May the Raven Queen’s touch on you be light_ ,” he says, raising a hand in benediction. His tone is dark and foreign.

Ren feels cold all down her spine. She shivers. “Th-thank you.”

And then, all of a second, the strange atmosphere is gone. That’s what a blessing from death feels like, Ren supposes, and hopes there aren’t too many of those in her future. Kravitz straightens, pleased with himself, looking like Taako’s handsome husband again. “No,” he says. “Thank you. You always have the best tea.”

Ren smiles. “It is the best, isn’t it? From the Underdark.”

“Of course,” Kravitz says, because where else would you get good tea like this? They sip their drinks in silence for a few minutes. Ren breaks her chocolate into little pieces and eats it that way. Kravitz takes bites of the bar, which makes Ren have to hide a smile in the rim of her cup. Eventually, Kravitz says, “Ren, do you still happen to have those playing cards? I haven’t had a good game in ages.

Necromancers always try to cheat.”

He has a hangdog look on his face. Ren giggles. “Course I do,” she says, opening her other desk drawer and pulling out a well worn pack of cards. As she shuffles, she adds, “Necromancers cheating death? Who’d’ve thought.” Kravitz laughs.

Ren doesn’t get much work done that afternoon, but it’s alright. She beats the Grim Reaper at his own game, and that’s even better.

*

Growing up in the Underdark, Ren had never really thought she’d end up anywhere else. What she lacked in immediate family, her father having died and her mother disappeared when she was a child, she made up for in a large network of aunts and uncles and cousins. Things weren’t great, but she’d managed. Cooking had helped her through it.

Cooking had brought her to see Sizzle It Up! live, and Taako had changed her life. Suddenly, the Underdark wasn’t big enough. Ren wanted new flavors, new people, new _experiences_ —so she’d left, and ended up at Woven Gulch, trying to learn more skills so she could move on to something better.

And this job…

It’s not something Ren had ever imagined for herself, before. It’s not something that she would have thought to want. But here she is, in a big chair behind a big desk in her big Deputy Headmistress office, and keeping this job means the world to her.

*

It’s quiet on campus during Candlenights season, and even quieter this year than in the past. “Independent directed arts and crafts” must really be something, because the students and teachers are in the studio at all hours, to the point where Ren begins to feel a little bit lonely. But she settles into the winter routine.

Snow falls, one afternoon, while Ren is still in her office, working on next year’s budget. She sees a hint of it between the slats in her blinds, and soon she has the window all the way open, looking out onto the snowy quad. Snow is still a novelty for her.

Behind her, on her desk, her stone of farspeech rings. Her personal stone, not her office stone. Ren hurries to pick it up. “Ren here.”

“Ren!” The voice is a little staticky. Bad reception, Ren thinks. “Little Ren!”

Before Ren can even think, the voice brings tears to her eyes. “Cassidy,” she says. 

“That’s me!” Cassidy says, and Ren imagines her sitting behind the mayor’s desk with her dirt-caked boots on all the papers. Or, no. Cassidy’s probably at the mine, her boots in the mud (“Where they belong, she’d say). Sitting on a crate of explosives, calling Ren on her stone of farspeech because, because… “We miss you loads back here in Refuge! How’s life in the big ol’ world treatin’ you?”

“It’s,” and Ren’s not sure what to say. She looks at her big desk, and then out to the quad, where the grass is already covered by a fine layer of snow. “It’s snowing right now! I’m at work.”

“At work?” Cassidy repeats, warbling in disbelief. “But it’s almost Candlenights!”

“Well, there’s a lot to do,” Ren says, on the defensive once again. “I’m working on budgets for the academy, with all the money, and…”

“Hi, Ren!” a voice chirps into the stone of farspeech.

Ren’s eyes get misty again. “Hi, Roswell.”

“We’re very proud of everything that you’re doing out there, but Refuge misses you!” Roswell says. Their voice is always so bright. It cuts through the static from the stone of farspeech as if Roswell’s bird was sitting on Ren’s shoulders. Ren imagines the little pinprick feeling from their tiny claws.

She sniffles a bit. “Well, I… miss y’all too, you know. How are you two? How’s everybody doing?”

There’s a bit of a shuffling noise and Cassidy comes back on the line. “I’m doin’ just fine, thanks! Plenty of tunnels to dig, plenty of diamonds to go around! And Roswell’s the best sheriff our town has ever seen!”

Through the static, Ren hears—or maybe imagines—Roswell’s shy laugh.

“Um, who else… Luca’s still up at that temple. He’s expanded it, y’know. But he’s helpin’ Redmond with the orchard, too. An’ Helpington’s store is bigger now too, what with all the new folks movin’ into town.”

“And June is working at the Davey Lamp!” Roswell chirps into the stone. “Paloma doesn’t spend so much time there anymore, so she’s practically running the place!”

Ren remembers June, remembers what a quiet, somber child she’d been, and the lively girl she’d grown into. Ren remembers teaching her how to cook, how to pour drinks, how to defend herself. They’d practice shooting Ren’s explosive wand out in the back behind the Davey Lamp. Ren would set up bottles and June would knock them all down. She’d been getting tall, when Ren left, but she wasn’t all grown yet. It’s been, what? It’s been five years. She’s definitely grown now.

Ren swallows a lump in her throat and draws an aimless figure in the flakes of snow now dotting her windowsill. “That’s, that’s great. I’m so proud of her.”

“I’ll tell her you said that! She’ll be happy to hear it,” Roswell chirps.

Ren sweeps the doodle away, clearing off her windowsill. “I should visit,” she says. “I’m… I’m thinking about visiting over spring break.” She’s been thinking about visiting over spring break for the past five years, but something’s always come up. Last year, there was a cheating scandal. The year before that, a pipe broke and the cafeteria flooded. The list goes on. Ren feels a little guilty. Well, a _lot_ guilty. But she’s got a life here, and a job, and… it’s the most important job she’s ever had.

“Well, maybe we’ll see you sooner than that,” Cassidy says.

“What?” Ren asks while Roswell yelps, “Cassidy! Shush!”

Ren frowns, her melancholy forgotten for a moment. “What?” she repeats.

“Maybe you’ll make it out to see us before then,” Roswell chirps quickly. 

Ren doesn’t think that was what Cassidy was originally going to say, and she wants to press, but there’s a knock at her door. “Miss Ren?” someone calls, and Ren recognizes the voice of Bethany, a lower-level transmutation instructor.

Back to business, then. “One second,” she says to Bethany, then turns back to her stone. “Cassidy, Roswell, I… have to go. Thank you so much for calling. I’ll– I’ll try to get in touch more often.”

“Nice speakin’ to ya,” Cassidy says.

“Have a good night, Ren!” Roswell adds, bright as ever. “Enjoy the snow! We’ll tell Junie and everyone that you say hi!”

There’s a click as the call ends. Ren slips her stone of farspeech into one of her pockets, then quickly wipes her eyes and swallows down her emotions before opening the door and letting Bethany inside. Refuge is a long way away and it feels further than ever now that she’s done talking with Cassidy and Roswell. But she’s got work to do. She’s got a _job_.

*

The students who stay at the Academy over Candlenights often… aren’t in the best family situations to begin with. Ren can relate, and she always has tissues and soothing chamomile tea stashed in her desk drawer in case anyone comes to her needing to talk. That’s part of being Deputy Headmistress—providing a listening ear, a helping hand, and a solid shoulder to cry on.

A few students trickle into her office as they get into the full swing of Candlenights break. One just wants to talk about the Independent Directed Arts and Crafts class, and how he’s now considering a new career as a sculptor. Ren encourages him. Another comes early in the morning in tears, because their mother passed away several years ago on this day and Candlenights has always been hard. Ren brews them tea and shares one of her chocolate bars, too. Later that same day a student comes with a nasty letter from their guardian. Ren brews tea, then writes down names and addresses: she’ll try to arrange things so that the student doesn’t have to worry about going home and dealing with her guardian ever again.

This part of her job reminds Ren a little bit of working in the Davy Lamp. Then, like now, people were always willing to sit down and tell a story. Then, like now, Ren served advice and compassion along with her drinks. But, generally speaking, there weren’t many kids at the Davy Lamp. And her students, though they’re young, live such difficult lives. Ren knows that she’s going above and beyond for them, but… she can’t not. She knows what it feels like to be young and alone and have no one standing up for you, and she doesn’t want any child going through that again.

On days when she gets a lot of student visitors, Ren’s exhausted by the time she heads to her little house on the grounds. And then she brews herself soothing chamomile tea, and gives herself a chocolate bar, and goes to sleep.

*

Carey and Killian take Ren to the spa. It’s a bit unexpected, but, as Killian says when she calls Ren on her stone of farspeech that morning, “We owe you! You helped us out, we help you out!”

Ren had helped Carey and Killian on a mission for the Bureau of Benevolence that involved finding a scam artist in the Underdark. She’d gotten them in touch with her uncle, who knew a guy who knew a guy who knew _the_ guy who’d conned two schools and one orphanage… and that was that. Ren knows Carey and Killian could have solved the case just fine on their own, but they seemed to think that she’d been a vital part of unraveling the mystery. Thus… a spa day.

“Wear your best outfit!” Killian says. 

“But it’s a spa; we’re just going to change anyway,” Ren protests. Her “best outfits” are more suited for being a professional Deputy Headmistress, not rest and relaxation in a mud bath.

“Aw, come on,” Carey says, stealing the stone of farspeech from her wife. “You gotta feel good _and_ look good!”

Ren wears her best outfit.

Carey and Killian come pick her up a few hours later, and they spend the day soaking in hot springs and getting massages and drinking mineral water and feeling relaxed. Ren isn’t getting any work done at all, and she can’t even bring herself to be stressed about it. She needed this.

They head back, at Carey’s urging, as the sun begins to set. “We’re gonna be late,” Carey mutters.

“We’ll be fine,” Killian says, but she’s hustling all of them out of the spa.

“Late for what?” Ren asks, looking between the two of them.

“For… dinner!” Carey says. “Definitely dinner.”

Ren frowns, but she’s too relaxed from the spa treatment to make a fuss and press for information. “Okay, I guess.”

It’s dark by the time they get back to the school. They pass through the gate and the main hall looms up over them. Ren turns, heading towards her small house.

“No, not that way,” Killian says.

“This way!” Carey adds, taking Ren’s arm and pulling her forward. “We hung out too long; we’re gonna be late!”

“Late for what?” Ren asks even as she’s speeding up to keep up with Carey. Killian grabs her other arm and tows her along, and soon she’s hardly walking at all. They practically carry her through the entryway. “You guys,” Ren protests with a laugh.

And then she stops.

The entry hall of Taako’s Amazing School of Magic is decorated with hundreds and hundreds of candles, floating weightlessly in the air. Ren’s eyes go to those first, and then drift down, across an amazing banquet spread out on tables sagging under the weight of food and plates. And the people! There’s Merle and his children, Magnus and his dogs. Angus McDonald, on Candlenights vacation from the Miller School of Arcane Sciences. The twenty-five winter session students and the remaining staff. There’s Taako’s sister Lup, who Ren has always regarded with a mixture of shyness and awe, and her husband, and Kravitz, dressed to the nines as always. There’s Lucretia, hanging back a little, and Davenport, at her side. There’s Roswell and Cassidy and Redmond and Luca and _little June_ , who isn’t so little anymore.

And then there’s Taako, standing proudly in the front of the room with his hands on his hips, next to some kind of big thing with a sheet draped over it.

“Surprise!” Carey cries.

“Happy Candlenights, Ren!” Roswell says. 

Ren has been standing frozen, her mouth open; it feels like Roswell’s voice breaks a spell. She staggers a little. Killian grabs her arm to steady her. “Oh my gosh,” she says, her eyes filling up with tears. “What– what’s this for?”

“It’s for you!” Taako says, looking even prouder at Ren’s reaction. “For the best Deputy Headmistress that Taako’s Amazing School of Magic has ever known!”

“I’m the only deputy headmistress it’s ever known,” Ren objects tearily.

And _this_ ,” Taako says with a flourish, ignoring her protest, “is the school’s Candlenights gift to you!” And he pulls off the drape covering the object behind him.

It’s a statue. Well, a bronze bust, really, of a larger than life Ren, on a marble column. It’s absolutely hideous. Ren loves it.

“The final project for Independent Directed Arts and Crafts! Listen,” Taako continues. His voice gets a little lower, the way it does when he’s really being serious. “Taako’s Amazing School of Magic wouldn’t be as amazing as it is without you.” A pause. “But it would still be amazing!” He concludes quickly. “Thank you, Ren!” Taako claps and the students and faculty join, and soon everyone is cheering and applauding… for the statue? For her? Ren doesn’t know anymore. She wipes her eyes.

“I’m… I don’t know what to say,” she begins, still teary.

“Speech!” Cassidy yells, and the students echo her.

Ren laughs and wipes her eyes again. Killian hands her a tissue. She clutches it in shaky fingers. “Um, I’m not really good at speeches or, or speaking in public or anything like that. But I just wanna say, this is probably, definitely, the best Candlenights I’ve ever had, and I, I appreciate y’all so much, and,” she sniffles, “thank you.”

It’s not much, as far as speeches go, but it’s greeted with a cheer anyway. Ren holds the tissue to her face as people come up to greet her with hugs and congratulations. Taako’s the first to appear in front of her, obviously. “Not bad for a Candlenights at work, huh?” he asks, looking proud of himself.

Ren gives a little sob. Taako ruffles her hair. “C’mon, little Ren.”

“Thank you,” Ren says, because there’s nothing else she can say. Because for all that Taako acts callous and aloof, he’s changed her life for the better _so_ many times. 

“Ren!” someone says behind Taako, and it’s Roswell and Cassidy and June. Taako laughs and ducks out of the way just in time to avoid getting swept up into a giant, crushing hug.

Ren laughs as Roswell and Cassidy _and_ June squeeze her tightly. “I can’t believe you guys came all the way out here just for this!” she says.

“Taako told us about his plan,” Roswell explains. “We couldn’t stay away.” And they release her and everybody else to let Ren catch her breath. She wipes at her eyes.  
“We’re staying all vacation, too!” Cassidy adds. “So get ready!”

June smiles. “Don’t worry,” she adds. “The Davy Lamp is in good hands.”

“I wasn’t worried at all,” Ren says. “Not with y’all in charge.”

They laugh and, slowly, the party comes to life. Taako’s in his element—serving food, teasing his family members, coming over to Ren every once in a while to make sure that she’s enjoying the party that he put together just for her (and, a little bit, for Candlenights). Ren spends time with her colleagues, who also seem a bit overwhelmed by the famous and powerful company that Taako keeps. She talks to her students, who are overawed but also excited, and who all have great stories to tell about Independent Directed Arts and Crafts.

Taako’s sister drops by to congratulate her, husband in tow, and Ren blushes and stammers her way through the conversation. She has a conversation with Lucretia and Davenport, who she’s only met in passing before, and they congratulate her on her hard work. Ren feels like she should be congratulating _them_ for saving the universe!

Carey and Killian get her a big plate of food. Kravitz pulls her aside for a moment and solemnly, awkwardly presents her with a small bag – “Extra fancy tea,” he says. “The kind we both like. I had business in the Underdark last week.” Merle meanders over and introduces Ren to his children, and then tells them all sorts of tall tales about Refuge that Ren corroborates with nods and wide-eyed solemnity. Cassidy gets in on it too. And Ren can see Roswell surrounded by a group of her students and staff, along with an eager Angus McDonald, and June talking seriously with Lucretia in the corner.

As the party winds down, Ren finds herself alone for a brief moment in front of the bust, empty plate of food in hand. Someone comes up to stand next to her. When Ren glances over, it’s Magnus, glass in hand. He’s grown a bit of a beard since Ren has seen him last. It makes him look a little scruffier, a little older. (Maybe he’s just getting older). “It’s really something,” he says, nodding at the sculpture.

Ren feels her face get hot again. She doesn’t know how she’ll walk past the entryway anymore without blushing. “A real Taako Original,” she agrees.

Magnus throws his head back and laughs. “That’s one way to put it!” Then he looks at Ren, his expression getting serious again. “You know, it may be a little… over the top, but Taako means it. He wouldn’t have this school without your help.

Ren knows Taako pretty well. She knows that he means it. But hearing Magnus say it out loud makes her tear up all over again. “Yeah?”

“Of course,” Magnus says and nudges her a little. “You’re doing good here. A lotta good. And everybody knows it.”

“Yeah,” Ren agrees. She’s not being very articulate but every time she thinks about this party, the surprise, the _gratitude_ , she gets choked up all over again. She sniffs a little. “Thanks.”

Magnus grins at her. “Hug?”

Ren nods and suddenly she’s enveloped in Magnus’s arms. Magnus gives good hugs. She laughs against his chest.

“More hugs?” Roswell calls hopefully from across the room, and suddenly Ren is once again surrounded by people, by light and warmth. It feels good. It feels like home. 

*

Ren’s bust, big and hideous, goes in the entryway. Not _right_ in the entryway, though; that’s reserved for the golden statue of Taako that’s been there since the school’s founding. Hers is tucked away in a nook near the hall that leads towards the administrative wing and her office. Ren insisted on that. It’s cozy and anyway, she never wanted the spotlight.

She keeps working hard, in her big chair at her big desk in her big Deputy Headmistress office. Taako drops by often. Kravitz visits sometimes too, for tea and card games. Carey and Killian hang out around the school when they can, teaching a few classes on acrobatics and general self defense when they have free time. Magnus comes by occasionally to work with students who need therapy dogs. Whenever he visits, Ren’s office is _full_ of puppies, and it’s absolutely delightful.

And Ren… Ren doesn’t leave for Candlenights vacation very often. She’s got her finances and her budgets and, most importantly, her students to think about. But she does take more breaks, visiting Refuge often and even the Underdark, occasionally. And Refuge—or at least Cassidy, Roswell, and June—often comes to visit her.

Her job is still important to her, obviously. But it's not as important as her family, wherever they might be, and acknowledging that helps Ren become a better Deputy Headmistress and a better friend. This isn’t how she’d thought her life would be. But this—surrounded by friends and loved ones, wrapped in warmth in any season—this is how she _wants_ it to be. And it’s good.  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Happy Candlenights! You can find me on tumblr [@spectraloats](http://spectraloats.tumblr.com).


End file.
